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(by Wendy Lee, Minneapolis StarTribune.com) – Anthony Hardwick is taking direct aim at Target for its decision to open its doors at midnight on Black Friday.
The part-time Target worker from Omaha…has started a petition through change.org [asking] Target [to reverse its decision to open at] midnight [on Thanksgiving evening].
“Employees like myself will have to leave for work right in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner,” Hardwick said in a statement. “We don’t mind hard work, but cutting into our holidays is a step too far.” Hardwick has collected more than [80,000] signatures on the petition, which asks Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel to call off the midnight opening and go back to the original plan to open at 5 on Black Friday morning.
Change.org is the same group that helped shoot down Bank of America’s plan to charge its customers a $5 monthly debit card fee. Earlier this month, Bank of America capitulated after a Change.org petition against the fee collected 306,000 signatures and late-night TV comedians mocked the bank as greedy.
Hardwick, 29, who says he has been a Target parking attendant for three years, began the petition two weeks ago after learning that he and his coworkers would be required to start at 11 p.m. Nov. 24 for a 10-hour shift.
But Hardwick’s petition comes at a time when Target is feeling the competitive squeeze from Wal-Mart, which plans to open its doors for Black Friday at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Macy’s, Gap, Kohl’s, Toys “R” Us, Best Buy and the Mall of America all plan to open at midnight or earlier on Thanksgiving in an attempt to [increase] sales that the National Retail Federation says may rise just 2.8 percent this holiday season, or about half as much as last year. …
And while Hardwick says the midnight opening is unfair, other Target workers will have it worse.
In Denver, Target is opening its 29 stores from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. According to a news release, this test in the Denver area will help the retailer decide whether to open in other markets on future Thanksgivings.
Snyder said Target will give holiday pay to employees who work on Thanksgiving. In addition, she said store leaders each year work with employees to accommodate scheduling needs.
Bloomberg contributed to this report. Contact the Star Tribune writers at wendy.lee@startribune.com and alex@startribune.com.
Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from The Minneapolis Star Tribune. Visit the website at StarTribune.com.
Questions
1. a) What is Black Friday?
b) How/when did Black Friday originate?
2. What is part-time Target employee Anthony Hardwick asking Target to do through his online petition?
3. List other stores that will open on this year on Thanksgiving day or evening.
4. Why are these stores opening at midnight or earlier on Thanksgiving this year?
5. Explain your answer to each of the following questions:
a) Would you care if you had to work on Thanksgiving evening?
b) Do you or anyone you know have to do so?
c) Would you shop on Thanksgiving evening if you knew the employees would prefer not to work on that day?
d) A Target spokeswoman said store leaders work with employees to accommodate scheduling needs. Ask a person you know who has worked, or does work in retail, if they think employees would be able to take off on Black Friday/Thanksgiving.
e) Some who signed the petition said that retail owners are greedy by opening at midnight or earlier on Thanksgiving day. What do you think?
f) Should stores be open all day on Thanksgiving Day?
g) Ask a parent, and a grandparent, what stores were open on Thanksgiving when they were kids.
6. Read the quotes below. What do you think about Target’s view of Thanksgiving shopping, vs. those of the marketing professors?
Regarding retailers opening on Thanksgiving evening, Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said Target takes the position that:
- customers “want to shop Target following their Thanksgiving celebrations rather than only having the option of getting up in the middle of the night. By opening at midnight, we are making it easier than ever to deliver on our guests’ wants and needs.”
College marketing professors make the following observations/suggestions:
- Wharton marketing professor Barbara Kahn says:
“If retailers are able to get a jump on their competitors, and get the deal-prone shopper into their store rather than into [another’s], it’s an advantage for that retailer. Unfortunately, however, if it’s a good idea that is gaining attention from the media and from shoppers, other competitors feel forced to copy – which is exactly what has happened. Then no retailer has a particular advantage. All that [means] is that the shopping time table has moved earlier for everyone.”
Her suggestion is: “Instead of joining in with other retailers racing to open earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving evening, the retailer could take the approach of saying, ‘Let’s value family time and give thanks,’ and then say that in support of their employees and out of respect for the importance of giving thanks, they will not open at midnight Thursday, but will instead offer a special deal at noon on Friday. Something like that could differentiate a retailer in a positive way, and perhaps drive sales from other types of shoppers who might value this perspective.”
- Marketing professor Stephen Hoch agrees with Barbara Kahn:
“I see no upside for anyone now that most retailers have matched competitors’ early — or is it late? — openings,” he says. “In total, all that this retailer arms race does is shift sales around a little bit with no aggregate effect. It’s a feeble attempt to try and ignite mass market spending. What is crazy to me is that there are good and bad deals all year round, but some people treat Black Friday as the one over-the-top bargain hunting event of the year. Why not be a smart shopper all year round?”
(professor quotes from knowledgetoday.wharton.upenn.edu/2011/11/black-thursday-anyone)
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